THE STATE HAS approached approximately 30 governments seeking to buy military hardware including sonar, radar, helicopters and armoured personnel carriers to speed up the rejuvenation of the Defence Forces, The Journal has learned.
It’s part of the major modernisation programme after the Commission on the Defence Forces report found glaring deficiencies in Irish capabilities to defend herself.
A team in the Department of Defence, led by a senior civil servant, has been given the task of expediting the sourcing of equipment including primary radar and sonar for naval ships.
The deadline for completing the task of re-equipping and modernising the equipment is 2028 but the team is keen to complete its task early. The time taken to manufacture and build the equipment will be lengthy.
Sources have said that the planned spending has led to a flurry of activity among military attachés at embassies based in Dublin and London. Ireland does not have a military attaché system so those diplomatic agents are liaising directly with the Department of Defence.
It is understood that the radar project, which could cost in excess of €300m, is progressing. The State has written to upwards of 30 governments asking them do they have interest in supplying the equipment, including Norway, Britain, the USA, Canada and Switzerland.
A senior Government source said that there is a “degree of optimism developing” that may indicate some major progress in the projects by the end of the year.
“The timing is really the problem and the wheels of industry move slowly. The various States tend to take a summer break and activity slows.
“But there is steady progress being made, just not enough to seal the various deals as yet.”
Sources have said that while the equipment procurement process is moving forward the major focus for military and civilian administrators is still on stabilising the recruitment and retention crisis.
“It really is the stone in the shoe of the State at the moment,” one security source said.
Security sources familiar with the equipment procurement process have said that the government to government approach has been used in the past, including by the Army Ranger Wing.
It essentially bypasses the need for the normal tendering processes, and links up directly with state representatives who are de facto agents for a country’s military industry.
One key aspect in government-to-government procurement is that the manufacturing State must give assurances that it will not use the Irish equipment for its own means – for instance inserting monitoring software.
There is a preference to source from European Union countries, which sources believe will negate those concerns.
In the Commission on the Defence Forces there were three Levels of Ambition (LOA) – LOA One, LOA Two LOA Three.
The report outlines a plan in keeping with LOA Two but there is a mechanism built in that there will be an assessment in 2028 to see if there is scope to move up to LOA Three which would include a dedicated fighter jet intercept capacity along with other initiatives.
Many sources we spoke to said there is little expectation that LOA Three will be met.
The Commission on the Defence Forces in 2022 proposed 130 points of action for the military, with one of the major projects a primary radar plan to place surveillance equipment at strategic locations across the country to, not only monitor Irish skies, but also to monitor shipping traffic.
The state-of-the art technology utilised by the radar would be able to detect jets and drones at a range of altitudes. It could also be used to detect low-flying aircraft being used by drug gangs.
Anti-drone technology is set to be delivered by the middle of 2025 as the replacement of the Irish Air Corps’ helicopter fleet will take place in 2028.
Representative bodies PDFORRA and RACO have said that the slow adoption of the European Working Time directive and various other measures to make life easier for Defence Forces members are heavily delayed.
A deadline has been set for September for the required action to be taken on that aspect of the Commission’s proposals.
A statement from the Department of Defence said: “The Detailed Implementation Plan sets out the timelines for the delivery of equipment priority projects recommended by the Commission on the Defence Forces and accepted by Government as necessary for the move to Level of Ambition 2 (LOA 2).
“These projects are being progressed in accordance with those timelines by the Capability Development the Procurement and Acquisitions Units in the Department of Defence.
“The Capability Development Unit was established in 2023 to implement a top down Capability Development Planning Process, is civil-military in terms of staffing and is a key enabler in ensuring the delivery of LOA 2 capability for the State.”
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